Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Parenthood- Season 4, episodes 13-15

Parenthood season four has ended. Too short, right? We guess the show got through everything though. We hope there's a season five, if only to give Sarah some semblance of a future, but if there isn't, most things ended pretty well. Let's go through the characters' doings in the last three episodes.

Drew and Amy- We knew Amy was pregnant way before the show told us, and we think everyone else did too. We also think, in reality, that Drew would have told his mom what he was stressed about when she came into his room to check on him. Kids WANT their parents to ask about what's really bothering them. Maybe they will act out or sulk to get their parents to notice. They don't always know how to approach parents with problems. We think Drew would have cracked.

He went to Amber instead. We love the Drew/Amber sibling relationship, but siblings don't really stroke the back of each other's heads, like Amber did when she was comforting Drew. It ends at hugs, jabs, and punches with siblings. Other than that, they don't touch each other. We like that the show handled the abortion and that her choice ruled, even though Drew disagreed with her. We're sure there are people who really hated that, dislike Amy now, and think the guy should get more of a say, and we respect that opinion/know it comes from a caring place. When Drew finally went to Sarah, crying, it made the whole episode work emotionally.

We were really happy for Drew getting into college. It sucks so much to be a teen and have every adult you come across ask you about the very thing you are stressing about: your future. You can't even say, "I don't know" with some of these people. They keep at it, asking you what you're thinking about, where you applied, and where you really want to go, and you really don't want to talk about it because what if you get in nowhere and you're a total failure. Drew's happiness and relief at getting into his dream school made us remember the time we saw good news on our computers. We think for all that went down between them this year, Amy and Drew had a sweet resolution to their relationship.

Max/Kristina/Adam/Haddie- Max brought the humor to the remaining three episodes, which is great for his character. With the show winding things down, we didn't need more Asperger's drama. We need to end things liking Max, because we do, overall. In real life, we like most people with AS. They are direct. You always know where you stand with them, and they are usually very smart and trustworthy. You just have to be accommodating and not DEMAND that everyone be "normal"/the same.

We loved the episode where he learned about his changing body and started showering more. When he walked out of the shower to music, we chuckled pretty hard. We loved seeing Kristina and Adam deal with something unrelated to cancer (and also unrelated to anything melodramatic or super-difficult). The best thing about this storyline was the Braverman grandparents being so frank and hilarious with Max. We like when Kristina got Max his vending machine and how excited he was, even though it was filled with nasty health food. It was a little dumb when the other kids were shouting his name and showering him with candy. Yeah, right.

We completely love that Hank gave his old camera to Max because Max has trouble looking people in the eye. It makes a lot of sense. We're happy Kristina's cancer is gone, mostly because if there is a season five, we don't want to watch that anymore. It's played out. Adam and Kristina running on the beach together would have been way more adorable had Adam not been so freakishly white that he will haunt our nightmares (and we're pretty white ourselves, so that's saying something). We're sad that we didn't get to see much of Haddie this season, even in the finale. We liked her.

Hank/Sarah/Mark- Mark shows up in episode 13 telling Sarah that he wishes he had fought for her and wants her back. Oooh, intrigue. Plus, Hank was jealous and Mark challenged Hank to his face. We liked where this was going. Then Sarah turns Mark down and decides to try to make things work with Hank. How does this end? We knew Hank was going to end it in some way. Ugh. Now Sarah has no boyfriend and no job. At least it wasn't for a jerky reason. We really love Hank with his daughter. Watching them have a snowball fight helped us to be way less mad at him.

We wanted Sarah to go with him, but we knew she couldn't. She has a whole life at home. She can't move just so that she can have a guy. And a job. And not live with her parents. Aw, dad gummit, Sarah, why didn't you go? Then again, will she? We don't know. We don't even know if we'll see this show again. This is the character with the least amount of resolution to her storyline right now.

Victor/Julia/Joel/Syd- In the 13th episode, things stayed dark in this household with Victor calling 911 for child abuse and Julia leaning toward not adopting him. Yeah, the show chickened out by wrapping this up too quickly and nicely, but for a while, this show did ballsy things. Having Joel and Julia's relationship strained by him wanting his new son and Julia wanting to send him back was interesting.

But Crosby came in at the 11th hour to tell Julia she is a good mom, and then Victor's concerns disappeared after Julia told him that she wanted to adopt him. Having Victor ask Syd to come to his ceremony was a good move, as was keeping Syd honest (if a little bratty). The adoption scene was so perfect and sweet, but our favorite part had to be Max's gift and the promise "now that you're adopted, you can officially hold my lizards."

Crosby/Jasmine/Jabbar- We were totally on Crosby's side in the whole Renee drama. While elders are to be respected and thanked for their help, it is his son. It is his house. It is his marriage. Marriages do not thrive when in-laws run the show or when their children pick their side over their spouse's. We liked the resolution though, obviously, and we teared up when Crosby apologized to Renee and told her that Jasmine is pregnant. Their anniversary dinner made us crave French food. You might not be able to pronounce any of it, but 99% of it is delicious.

Amber/Ryan: Amber didn't take Ryan back until he made real steps toward fixing his life, like getting a therapist and a job. We're really proud of her for that and feel like their reunion was well-earned. We think a wedding is a little fast (we saw them picking out rings toward the end), but we know we'd love it anyway. It's nice for Amber to get something good. She's been an angel this entire season and totally deserves it. They gave us a few of our many tears in the finale. Loved the montage.

8 comments:

I loved this season and love this show overall. You're right that they tackle hard things and they usually nail it. A little more humor wouldn't hurt. The last episode really had a series, not a season, finale to it. I hope that's not the case.

Agreed, it was a very good season, but much too short. I really enjoyed the Max growing up episode. But I really ave a problem with one thing about that episode. Who lets their kid only shower twice/week? That's so gross! I know I was raised to shower/bathe everyday. If not an actual shower at least a sailor shower. Yuck! I loved how the Crosby/Jasmine storyline played out. I'm glad Crosby made up with his mother in law even though I feel he was in the right. She (his mom in law), was putting her nose where it didn't belong. Liked how the Kristina/cancer storyline ended. Not sure how I feel about the Joel/Julia/Victor story. It was nice that it all ended on a high note, but it just seemed to work itself out too easily. I'm also not sure how I feel about Sarah/Hank. Hank has def grown on me, but I don't think I'd like Sarah moving to the frozen tundra of Minnesota. Oh and I also really liked the Amber/Ryan story. Proud of her for making him man up before she took him back. My main complaint with this season? Not enough Hattie!

It's a common thing with Asperger's. They often just sit in their room and read or play with their lizards. If they aren't running around outside, they are less smelly. But then puberty hits and it doesn't matter what they do, they smell. Then the parent notice and tell them to shower (which should have been common sense, but since they are wired differently, the kid just doesn't know). But the AS kids are so used to their own smell that they don't realize they smell until someone tells them. Then they make rules (they are very good with rules) to shower once a day, usually at the same time of day. They just add it to their often rigid schedules. It does seem like the Bravermans should have told him earlier, but believe it or not, it's a fairly common situation.

THANK YOU. Crosby was totally in the right. The Victor thing turned around a little too quickly for me too.

Books by Temple Grandin and one book called "Aspergirls." Also, the internet. And I know multiple people with it. My dad has never been diagnosed, but I'm 99.9% certain he has it. I sometimes have to be like, "It's shower time, Dad, you nasty sucker." And he'll go take one.

Also, I should have put that not all people with AS have this symptom. Some of them have no hygiene problems. They are all different and will have the different symptoms and traits to different degrees.

No worries. Most people know nothing about it, which is one of the things that makes Parenthood so awesome. You'll probably come across someone with it in life, even if it's a milder case than Max's. They will likely be odd, extremely logical, blunt, direct, sometimes offensive (but unintentionally so), easily overstimulated, honest, unfashionable, anxious, and prone to social mistakes (and sometimes depression and extreme guilt). You might feel that they don't like you, stare too much, or avoid your gaze. If you start picking up on these things in someone, just give them an extra break when they mess up and assume they mean well, bc they likely do.

About the bloggers

Ern is a lawyer. Ern's all-time favorite shows are LOST and Breaking Bad. Other favorites include Homeland and South Park. She also enjoys opera, water skiing, arguing, and movies. Ern responds to most of the comments, because they go directly to her phone. Ern also starts most of the posts and leaves them half done, as drafts, for Leeard to finish. As far as international visitors go, Ern is excited to see visitors from Germany, the UK, and Israel.

Leeard is a technology consultant and a nice Italian Catholic girl. Leeard's all-time favorite show is Gilmore Girls, but her favorite shows on right now are Game of Thrones, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries. Leeard can do your taxes, loves sports, and has an insane amount of pop culture knowledge. Leeard is excited to see visitors from Russia and Poland because she speaks conversational Russian and Polish (and Spanish).

We started this blog because of our insane addictions to TV. We thought that, while we were "wasting our lives," we would at least get writing and thinking practice out of it.